Library, pool and arena busy over holidays

PENTICTON – Penticton’s public institutions saw increased usage over the holidays, with the library alone seeing double the usership it normally does on a Monday.

Penticton Public Library’s Systems Librarian, Shelley Murphy, said after being closed for four days usership doubled what was usual for a Monday.

“It was amazingly busy yesterday. We had line ups at the checkout. People were desperate for books," she said. "We’ve never closed more than two days at a time. On Monday we checked in twice the number of books we normally do.”

Murphy said the library has also seen increased traffic from residents who received e-readers and tablets for Christmas, as they come to the library for set up advice. Visitors were also taking advantage of the library’s free Wifi and a number of kids came to the library over the past few days with visiting grandparents.

The library is open until 3 p.m. New Year’s Eve, and closed New Years day before returning to regular hours.

At the Penticton Community Centre, Acting Recreation Business Supervisor Kelly Hopkins reported “an absolutely dramatic" increase in pool and skating attendance at the pool and at the McLaren Park Arena between Christmas and New Years. The community centre saw 7,000 visitors between Dec.21 and Dec.31.

“Our facilities were really well utilized. We had record attendance at McLaren Park, 250 on Sat. Dec. 27, for public skating this week,” Hopkins said.

Hopkins attributed the increase to people staying home and enjoying the season in Penticton rather than travelling this year.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.